Organ program aims to boost awareness in county

Officials hope growth in area leads to increase in donor pool

Published 5:30 am, Monday, May 15, 2006

A traffic accident on FM 1488 in March 2004 took the life of 18-year-old Tricia Byrum. But from that tragedy, about 80 people were given the chance at new life.

Her liver helped cure a woman from Houston of cirrhosis. A diabetic from Fort Worth received a kidney and pancreas. Her heart beats in the chest of a Longview woman who suffered congestive heart failure. Her eyes, bone and skin helped countless others with injuries or disease.

In January, Tricia's parents, Cindy and Danny Byrum of Porter, got to meet some of those people who got a new lease on life because of their daughter.

"You wanted to cry for the sorrow of losing a loved one," said Cindy Byrum, recalling the moment she heard her daughter's heart beating in another chest. "But you want to have joy because her heart is still beating."

Tricia Byrum became a heart donor on the day she got her license, proudly affixing the red "donor" sticker to her license. It is the same sticker her mother found months later, after Tricia was lying in the hospital with a brain injury from the crash.

"Though it's tough, you hold onto hope as long as you can," Cindy Byrum said. "But when you know that they will not make it, think of that person whose life can go on ... Let life continue. Let their life be a gift."

Rise in awareness

The Byrums are one of the Montgomery County families who have participated in organ and tissue donation through the
LifeGift Organ Donation Center
, a service that operates in 109 counties in southeast, north and west Texas. It helps to match families who lost loved ones to those awaiting life-saving transplants, most in the Texas region. With the growth of Montgomery County, this area will become a more vital link in the program.

In 2004 in Montgomery County, there were two organ donations and 15 tissue donations. In 2005, the numbers rose to two organ donations and 20 tissue donations. For the first quarter of 2006, there have been three organs donations and 18 tissue donations in the county.

In contrast, 91,000 people in the United States are on a waiting list for a transplant, 6,000 in Texas alone. Seventeen people die every day awaiting a transplant, and a new person is added to the list every 16 minutes, said Denise Van Kuiken, a donation system specialist with LifeGift.

Residents can become donors by carrying a donor card with their driver's license. In Texas, families have the final word. Therefore, it is imperative that people talk to their loved ones about their decision before a crisis occurs. To get a donor card, contact LifeGift at 713-523-4438 or at www.lifegift.org.

Local focus

"We have had donors from newborns to age 80," said
Catherine Burch Graham
, director of communication for LifeGift. "In fact, we just had a 92-year-old liver donor."

Donors can come from any walk of life, and even people with HIV, cancers and hepatitis B can contribute. For HIV and hepatitis B, donations would be given to others with the same disease. The only conditions that are rejected are cancers that had metastasized, Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis or a death caused by an unknown condition, Graham said.

"For a lot of the families, it allows them to take something positive from a sad or tragic situation," said Graham.

Most of the organ and tissue donations collected in Montgomery County go to area residents. Through the United Network of Organ Sharing, donations are first offered to local entities, such as Texas Medical Center, Texas Children's Hospital, Lions Eye Bank, Shriners Hospital for Children in Galveston, and LifeCell, formerly of The Woodlands. If a match is not available here, it will be transferred out of state.

Tissue donations can be made following a cardiac death. The tissue includes the eyes, skin, bones and heart valves, which can be used to replace corneas, help burn victims, provide bone fragments for back surgeries and replace defective heart valves for infants.

Those providing organ donations generally suffer from head injuries, where death is imminent. The organs that can be recovered include heart, lungs, liver, pancreas and kidneys.

"We have had lists of 75 to 80 people who can benefit from one organ donor," said Van Kuiken.

Expressing thanks

Gibson received the heart of a 19-year-old man nine years ago. Each year, he writes an anonymous letter to the donor's family to let them know what he has been able to do during the year and to thank them for the most precious gift of life. In the nearly 10 years since the surgery, he has added four grandchildren, traveled extensively worldwide, extended his career as an engineer four more years, and shared his story with countless audiences and individuals as a volunteer with LifeGift.

"Those have been one page of activities that I have been able to participate in in the course of the year," Gibson said of his letters to the donor. "It always includes very generous gratitude that I try and send their way for the special gift I received."

Only last year was he able to track down the mother of the young man who died in an accident. He is trying to arrange a meeting with her.

County program

Montgomery County was the first in Texas to initiate a new program that provides a donor referral program through the
Montgomery County Hospital District
's Emergency Medical Service. Because time is of the essence in transplants,
EMS
workers can provide referrals to the program from the scene of an accident. LifeGift then can contact the family earlier.

"It provides an opportunity for some good to come out of a tragic situation," said Allen Johnson, chief administrative officer with the hospital district.

Since the EMS program was introduced in 2002, it has led to 326 referrals and 22 donations to the program, Graham said. In fact, 14 other agencies in the Greater Houston area have begun similar programs of their own.

LifeGift operates in the four regional hospitals in Montgomery County, including Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Hospital, St. Luke's Community Medical Center, Conroe Regional Medical Center and Select Specialty Hospital in Conroe. Statewide last year, the agency recovered 985 organs from 272 people.

Encouraging donations

While three-quarters of the people approached agree to donate organs or tissues, LifeGift is trying to increase the number of people who are aware of the program who can donate. There are many common misconceptions that often prevent people from contributing to the program.

Among them are that certain religions prohibit the desecration of bodies before burial, that there is a charge to the donor families, that organs are sold, and that wealthy individuals and celebrities have priority for receiving organs.

Van Kuiken said all mainstream religions either advocate organ donations or leave the decision up to the discretion of families. Also, there is no charge to the donor families for any recovery procedure and no organs are sold, but rather distributed based on the need. Finally, LifeGift often has trouble obtaining organs from minorities, especially from blacks and Hispanics, because those groups generally have less access to medical care and facilities.

For Gibson, his heart has been the greatest gift.

"God wants their souls, not their organs and tissues," Gibson said. "They should always remembers in life we only have certain opportunities to help others. Giving your organs is the most significant gift you will ever have the opportunity to give."